Sept. 2, 2008
Head Coach Rocky Long
(on the spread offense and execution):
“It’s not what they do, it’s the talent that they have and how they do it that makes the biggest difference to us. We have experienced enough coaches that we’ve seen the schemes, we’ve seen all the schemes they can throw out there. The spread offense is the biggest scheme right now that’s causing everybody trouble because it’s a little bit different. It’s a little fresh, it’s a little new. We’ve seen all the schemes, so it’s not an X and O problem whatsoever, it’s an execution problem on our side and their side.”
(on how Texas A&M was put on the schedule):
“It was more (UNM Senior Associate Athletics Director) Tim Cass when he got here because he had some ties with Texas A&M. I’ve always said that we’ll play anybody home-and-home, but I also said we’d play anybody (on the road) for a million dollars and that didn’t come true. I think with Tim’s ties with A&M, they were talked into a home-and-home situation. We’ll play anybody home-and-home. I think there were some personal relationships that got that one done.”
(on scheduling non-conference games):
“I like to see Big 12 match-ups, but I like regional match-ups just as well. I like Texas Tech, I like Arizona, I would love to play Colorado home-and-home because those are surrounding states and those schools are fairly close to here. So people can travel by car and see the game – either way, them coming here or us going there. Now, A&M has a history of bringing a lot of fans to the game so that’s a positive.”
(on New Mexico’s sense of urgency this week):
“Hopefully there is more of an urgency with our offensive linemen and defensive linemen about this week. I don’t think there is any more emphasis by the coaching staff because the emphasis by coaching staff has been there from day one. Usually there is a big improvement from game one to game two, but that’s with both teams. I assume they are going to make a big improvement and hopefully we’re going to make a big improvement so that the game is close and interesting and exciting, and hopefully going into the fourth quarter we have a chance to win.”
(comparing TCU and Texas A&M’s speed and athleticism):
“It’s never a positive to lose. Having one game under your belt is a positive. I don’t know if A&M has more athletic ability than TCU. They are a little bit bigger and stronger and have the same kind of athletic ability. They have real good speed, but it’s not going to be faster than TCU. We might play someone – and it might be A&M – as fast as TCU, but we’re not going to play anyone faster than TCU. And having one game under your belt, that’s why in the NFL they play all those exhibition games to get them ready for the first game. The colleges that are usually ready for the first game are the ones that have the same coaching staff and have a very experienced football team coming back.”
Junior Center Erik Cook
Cook Press Conference
(on what the offensive line can learn from the TCU loss):
“We can take that as a learning experience for our newer guys. There were a couple of key mistakes – one of them being a sack on Donovan (Porterie) that he ended up getting hurt on. I think we can learn from this and apply that to these upcoming games.”
Senior Safety Blake Ligon
Ligon Press Conference
(on New Mexico’s style of defense):
“We’re not your typical defense. Most teams are used to having giants on the line and big, strong linebackers. We substitute everything with speed. We’re a little tricky, a lot of us are really wiry, and almost every team we play against doesn’t give us much credit as a whole, so we all play with a chip on our shoulder.”